Apple TV, @Google TV, here’s a new way to make money, delivery value. #in #fb

First off, I don’t have an Apple TV or any device that support Google TV. I have a Roku and it’s fine for now.

On to my idea: One of the main functions platforms often perform is to make it easier to find things. One of the more sophisticated ways of doing this is through a recommendation engine (think Pandora, Netflix, Amazon’s User who bought that also bought this recommendation). A use case: Whenever something is played on an Apple TV (let’s say a Netflix movie), Apple should be listening for what music is being played (think Shazam) and offer it up for purchase when you are done watching that movie. Google could do the same thing, even by listening to commercials. Google Music is a bit different than iTunes, but it would still be valuable. Clearly Apple has a direct sale that could result from this capability via iTunes.

Wanted: FB Check-in Heat Map

I’d love it if Facebook started leveraging all those check-in native to their iOS app.  Here is what I want: A heat-map of all check-ins.  Then, at a glance you can see where people are concentrated.  Per this story, Miller is doing something similar. This isn’t a new idea and FB already does it with your friends.  I just want to see anonymous data about non-friends in order to understand where popular places are.  Some third party developers used Foursquare API to allow you to visualize your own check-ins.  FB could bring this new and interesting capability to the masses without much work.

Dear @Apple, Let me set the length of my pin code on my iPhone

I know I can make a longer password using the keyboard but I’d rather be able to make an 8+ character length pin code with the digit pad.

Kinect SDK

I am really excited about Microsoft’s move to release an official Kinect SDK. There has been an explosion in hacks since it release and now this is only going to increase. If I had more time, I’d be all over this thing. I just hope they keep a decently fast hardware refresh cycle but because it’s a platform peripheral, that probably won’t happen. Consumers don’t want to think about if they have the right version of Kinect when buying a game.

iOS devices will make Apple TV a Gaming Platform

My prediction: Apple will make Apple TV a premier disruptive gaming platform (like Wii once was) by making iPhone and iPads the game controllers. All the games I already have on my iPhone will just work on the TV. AirPlay supports mirroring on the iPad now. If they work out any latency issues this would be a game changer. New API will enable a Wii U like experience.

Update: latency looks to be close to a third of a second which is much too large. Apple will likely have to install the app (e.g. Infinity Blade) on the Apple TV and only transmit enough information to make sure controller inputs are in sync with the graphics. A new generation of Apple TV with onboard graphics capabilities might be needed.

iOS app loading for specific URLs

iOS should have a listing of URLs that when clicked in the browser, they load the app with the relevant information, NOT the web page. I’ve got an app for imdb, reddit, fedex, CNN, Facebook, linkedin, twitter, and on and on. BUT when I click a link I’m still stuck in the browser having to zoom in and out and now getting any benefit of the app on my iPhone. Google maps does it, and so does YouTube… I wish apple would make this apple to all apps.

Square Should Do NFC Also

Square should adopt NFC in the next version of their hardware ASAP in order to maximize their relevancy.

Verizon iPhone gets wifi hotspot?

What’s the deal AT&T? Anyway, at least I can use data and voice at the same time.

http://i.tuaw.com/2011/01/11/verizon-iphone-cant-handle-data-and-voice-simultaneously/

My Digital Swiss Army Knife is Missing Something

I wish the iPhone had an IR LED transmitter/receiver on it.  My Palm and Windows Mobile devices from last century did and it was rather useful.  This would really put a dent in universal remote market and a new category of apps would flourish.  Electronics manufacturers would likely produce controller apps for their devices, logitech would be forces to develop some universal apps if they would want to stay relevant, and new players could enter the field.  I realize their are work arounds, but that is lame.

So why not, Apple? Power consumption of the IR LEDs? Maybe… but it’s not like they’d be active all the time.  I’d love to see if in the iPhone 5.. Along with ability to pay (credit) with my phone, enhanced proximity sensor capability (so I can swipe away alerts), and a higher resolution front facing camera.

Point and Shoot Camera are Getting Disrupted

Now that I’ve had the iPhone4 since launch, one things is evident to me: It’s 5MP camera is good enough for 95% of my camera needs.  It’s just not worth it to carry around a point and shoot when I am going out with friends.  More interesting is the plethora of photography apps available.  Hipstamatic and Instagram are probably my favorites.  These apps making two things possible that are not easy on point and shoot cameras:  Sharing (e.g. on FB) and tweaking photos (i.e. a vintage filter).

If point and shoot camera manufactures are smart, they will introduce these capabilities.  Dropping a 3G chip in the camera would help but they’d probably want to limit the file size able to be transmitted.  Especially if there is no monthly cost for data (see Kindle).  I doubt that will happen though because there is no direct financial benefit to Canon to support that transmission.   However, the photo-tweaking seems like a no brainer and very achievable.

Why stop there?  Seems to me a Canon App Store for their cameras would be a great expansion of their product line.